Spokeshave Performance

[Tom Scott]

I am building a little stool primarily as a project to try out my new L-V spokeshave. The legs of the stool will be through-tenoned into the seat and wedged. I was planning to scoop out the seat of the stool to create a concave top surface. I don't have much experience with shaves, so the question I have is whether the spokeshave can handle this end grain of the legs, or will it tend to skip and chatter over it? I'm thinking that the low angle of the L-V will help on this, but if not I'll leave the top surface flat and play with it on the legs.

Tom

[harry strasil]

Tom shaves work good on endgrain sometimes. If it chatters or jumps try angling the blade (skewed) and see if that works, It is best to take some scraps and make a trial joint and try it on that before making the article and trying it only to find out it doesn't work. Also the sharpness of the blade and how fine (blade stick out) is.

good luck, all my shaves are old ones or homemade, so my results may differ from yours.

[Jeff Kurtz]

Tom,

Am I reading this right, or are you going to try to saddle (shape) the seat with a spoke shave rather than a scorp and travisher? That would be a whole lot of work.

Anyway, fitting the legs is done only after the seat is finished. The protruding leg tenons are then sawed off if necessary, then pared smooth to the seat with a chisel and gouge. Here's a nice page that may help you a bit.
http://www.windsorchairresources.com/process.html

Jeff

[Tom Scott]

The plan was not to create a complex dished-out seat like a chair, but rather a simple, uniform concave surface. This is to be a simple foot stool, not a seat.

[Larry Gelder]

Tom,

Would post a picture(s) of the the finished stool, and any suggestions from the journey. I'd like to make one myself.

Thanks,
Larry

[Dave Anderson NH]

Hi Tom,

One of the best tests of whether or not a spokeshave (or any blade for that matter) is really sharp is how well it will cut endgrain. While a low angle works better on endgrain, a standard angle will also work is it's harp enough.

[Alan Turner]

Tom

On our Asian influenced stool, shown below, we drill, then shape the seat, insert the legs and wedge them, cut off the waste, and then finish with a curved sole spokeshave. I have found the Boggs works best for this as the mouth is quite tight, but the LV is fine also. Take light cuts with a well sharpened shave and you should be OK.